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BE Health Ventures managing partner Arthur Chen: Connecting Taiwan’s robust ICT chain with healthcare startups
Having close ties with top medical research and development centers such as Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign, Tohoku University, Taipei Medical University and Show Chwan Hospital, BE Health Venture connects Taiwan-based healthcare start-ups with the global market.
The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on most economic sectors around the world. However, the healthcare industry bucked the trend amidst chaos. According to Rock Health, a seed fund dedicated to digital health, healthcare investment doubled in 2020 compared with 2019, amounting to USD 14.6 billion; whereas in the first half of 2021 alone, the amount came to a whopping USD 14.7 billion. A wide array of investment topics include telehealth, behavioral health, remote patient monitoring, fitness and others.
Arthur Chen, managing partner at BE Health Ventures, is a serial entrepreneur. Before joining BE Health Ventures, he was running an equity crowdfunding company in New York. During his time in New York, Arthur came upon many startups, witnessing the upward trend of healthcare.
Enticed by the start-up world, Arthur went back to university lecture halls in 2014, hungry for knowledge. At the EMBA program in joint effort of Columbia University, London Business School and The University of Hong Kong, Arthur met the co-founder of BE Health Ventures.
Sharing a vision in healthcare startups, Arthur later joined the team in 2016. “Taiwan’s ICT industry serves as a very strong foundation for healthcare startups that seek to integrate technology into their service. Becoming a part of BE Health Ventures seemed like a great opportunity,” said Arthur.
The road to entrepreneurship
In fact, Arthur did not take on the role of an entrepreneur until 2010. It happened following his job at Texas Instruments, in which he led R&D partnerships with Dell and Compal, growing revenue from US$22M to US$44M. However successful, he felt it was day in and day out. He wanted to switch to a career path that exerts a positive impact on human life.
Arthur found his calling in social enterprise. Upon reading a UN report of poverty on the African continent, Arthur was motivated to develop products that help lift the plight. He marketed affordable solar LED light in Kenya, as fumes of commonly-used kerosene lamps take a toll on people’s respiratory systems. “It was truly an adventure.'' I could never forget the time that a woman said ‘Thank you’ to me,” said Arthur.
In 2016, Arthur handed his startup project over to an NGO to expand the business. Later on, he embarked on an equity crowdfunding project in New York, after which Arthur came back to Taiwan to join BE Health Ventures.
Having started multiple businesses on his own, Arthur knows how important a mentor’s role could play on the way. “As an accelerator, we are startup’s biggest fans. We help them weather the storm by pointing out possible obstacles ahead,” said Arthur.
The key to success for healthcare startups: close encounter with the medical scene
BE Health Ventures is the first healthcare investor in Taiwan to partner with hospitals, an investment strategy prevalent in the United States. Mayo Clinic, one of the top-tier hospitals in the States, started Mayo Ventures business development in 2013. Mayo bridged investors, development teams and medical experts to incubate and scale healthcare solutions.
BE Health Ventures helps foster communication and collaboration between startups and medical specialists in hospitals. “Software engineering talents and medical experts have very different modes of thinking. It is important that we bridge their cognitive gaps,” explained Arthur.
Clinical trials can be conducted in two leading private hospitals with BE, the Taipei Medical University Hospital and Show Chwan Hospital.
Show Chwan Hospital hosted the IRCAD program, the biggest training center in Asia for telesurgery with over 4,000 surgeons trained since 2008, and a staggering investment amount of 4 million in hardware equipment.
Along with BE founders, the principal of Taipei Medical University(TMU) visited Stanford University Medical Center, and was determined to adopt Stanford’s entrepreneurial strategies of working closely with start-ups. TMU set up the Research Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, collaborating with start-ups from BE Health Ventures to develop advanced technologies.
“In order to keep up with the times, it’s important for hospital managers to take the initiative to collaborate with start-ups,” said Arthur. The managers at both hospitals showed great vision in partnering with BE Health Ventures.
After POC: global market expansion
Taiwan’s exceptional medical research capability makes it a great fit in terms of implementing proof of concept, but insufficient in market size. Therefore, the global market is the answer if startups wish to make their businesses thrive.
The Japan market is a sweet spot for Taiwan-based healthcare startups. Taiwan’s earliest modern medical system was built by the Japanese in the colonial era, establishing friendly ties for over 100 years. A visiting professor at Tohoku University of Japan, Arthur’s connection grants start-ups in the BE eccosystem access to the Japanese university medical center to conduct clinical trials.
“Taiwan’s healthcare startup lacks the chance to access international funding, and the opportunity to go global,” said Arthur Chen. BE Health Ventures is here to provide start-ups with the global resources in need.
BE Health Ventures’ partnership with Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign marks the first accelerator in Asia to close the deal with Stanford. Mass Challenge, an accelerator based in Boston is another global connection.
The widespread connections that BE built in Taiwan and abroad lay the groundwork for healthcare startups that seek to expand globally.
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